Features, Reviews

The Life of the Mind: A Look at Barton Fink

“I’ll show you the life of the mind!” – Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) Barton Fink is a film with myriad meanings. Its elements are so diverse it defies genre classification. Is it a comedy drama? A period piece? Thriller? It’s strange, but it grows on you over the course of many unnerving scenes. After all, this […]

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Reviews

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

Everything about The Killing of a Sacred Deer gets ingrained in your mind. Director Yorgos Lanthimos forces you to pay attention to every single detail. When watching, you’ll have no idea where the story is going to take you. Lanthimos’ deadpan humour ripples beneath the surface and there are no clear answers. Is this a revenge movie? A […]

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Reviews

The Wailing (2016)

About twenty minutes into this horror film, I was really surprised to be laughing. The Wailing starts out with slapstick comedy and buddy cop humour. Jong-goo (Do-won Kwak) bumbles his way through a murder investigation while trying to take care of his family. He’s a hilariously rubbish cop, but a likeable guy. Being Mr Nice Guy won’t […]

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Reviews

Colossal (2017)

Imagine every time you go out drinking, a massive lizard-like monster causes mass destruction in South Korea. Your wild behaviour literally manifests itself as a Godzilla lookalike, imagine that for a minute… Because this is what happens to Gloria (Anne Hathaway) in Colossal. This is a weird film. It’s the kind of movie that’s guaranteed to […]

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Reviews

Okja (2017): This Netflix Movie is a Huge Entertainer

Just your everyday film about a young girl (Ahn Seo-Hyun) who risks her life to save a giant pig named Okja, from the Miranda Corporation. Lead by CEO Lucy (Tilda Swinton), the company plan to slaughter it to feed a hungry population. Okja, a genetically-modified mammal, is one of 26 ‘super pigs’ spread around the world […]

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Reviews

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Quirky and weirdly compelling, here is an indie comedy I found very funny! Once you embrace its ridiculous plot, you’ll be entertained right until the end. Four vampire housemates – Viago, Vladislav, Deacon and Petyr, live in Wellington, New Zealand, where they let a film crew document their everyday lives. Presented in the mockumentary style, What […]

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Reviews

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

How do you make an on-screen romance between a man and a blow-up doll interesting? You do it with openness, faith, a touch of comedy and with Ryan Gosling playing the lead. There’s no easy way to explain the plot of Lars and the Real Girl, without sounding like a rambling idiot. I can’t imagine what […]

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Lists

Top 5 Weirdest Films That Are Worth Your Time

Most weird films come from the independent world, not Hollywood, because the stranger the movie, the less likely it will be successful. I have seen plenty of weird films, some good and some terrible. Here are five movies that I believe have a unique place in cinema. Un Chien Andalou (1929) What happens when you […]

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Reviews

Sightseers (2012): Killer Road Trip Movie 

Why are British directors so good at making gritty and brutally comical films? That’s what we get in Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers. It’s a horror-comedy about a couple, Chris (Steve Oram) and Tina (Alice Lowe), who go on a cross-country road trip, and unleash their homicidal rage on anyone who rubs them up the wrong way. […]

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Reviews

The Lobster (2016): An Absurdist Love Story

The Lobster is exactly the type of film that would never get made in Hollywood. It’s disturbingly funny and totally off-beat. I’m not sure what it is about obscure films, but they always appeal to me. They offer such a rich viewing experience, I’m more than happy to sit through their weirdness. The Lobster is very strange […]

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Reviews

Super (2010)

No film has tackled superheroes as bluntly and as practically, as James Gunn’s Super. It’s nowhere near as entertaining as Kick-Ass, but I admire Gunn for creating a film that is in some respects, a middle finger to the audience. There’s no point to it, but perhaps that’s the point… This dark comedy follows Frank D’Arbo (Rainn […]

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